A Heartless Bully?
by BubbaBoom
Summary: Troy Bolton: a bully who is about to be kicked out of the basketball team. Gabriella Montez: a nerd who has had nothing but success when it comes to academics. When Mrs. Darbus makes her Troy's tutor, will love spark or will all hell break loose?
1. Chapter 1

A Heartless Bully?

**Hey guys! This is A Heartless Bully? If you have some spare time, go check out my two-shot Just Once. Please review, I really want to know what you guys think so comment on both stories. So I'm done blabbering, let's get to reading! Well here's the start, let's see how it goes...**

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Troy Bolton: a failing bully who is on the verge of being kicked out of the basketball team. Gabriella Montez: a nerd who has had nothing but success when it comes to academics. When Mrs. Darbus assigns Gabriella to become Troy's tutor will love spark or will all hell break loose?

Disclaimer: I don't own anything. But nevertheless, I LOVE HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL!

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Chapter One

Seventeen-year-old Gabriella Montez walked across a busy street.

She walked with lousy posture: her back bent and her head down. Her arms were wrapped tightly around a large, chunky book. Just by looking at her, you could tell she had a small self esteem.

Once she took her first step onto the East High campus, she inhaled and took in her rushed surroundings. She was never the outgoing type, always the observing type. She noticed everything, every little detail; especially the cliques.

Any visitor could spot each clique at East High within a few seconds. It was probably easier to tell the nerds from the cheerleaders and the football players from the skaters than to simply drink a glass of water. To simplify, East High is a very stereotypical school.

Gabriella looked around, trying to find her best friend Taylor McKessie. After struggling to see her outside, she gave up and decided to look inside.

It was stupid to even look for her outside. Taylor, along with their brainiac friends, spent most of their time in either the library or the chemistry lab.

Gabriella shook her head in frustration and headed for the library.

She only had to walk a few steps to meet with the aroma of sweat and rubber. When the two scents combine it could only mean one thing – the basketball team. If you want to be more specific, then Troy Bolton.

Overwhelmed by the horrid smell, Gabriella picked up her pace while putting her head down. Her grip on the book tightened as she charged forward. The smell really got to her.

* * *

BAM!

"Hey! Watch where you're going, nerd!" a voice yelled. The owner of that voice got up and brushed himself off. Gabriella looked up, trembling. She did nothing wrong! It was just an accidental bump.

Slowly, the guy walked towards her.

"Oh she's in for it now." someone shouted from afar.

Gabriella was terrified of what was going to happen. Each step that the guy took was like being shot with fear.

Next thing you know, he was right in front of her.

"Do you know who I am?!" he exclaimed, outraged. Gabriella made no movement, no sound. "I'm Troy Bolton! Nobody runs into Troy Bolton!" A crowd grew rapidly around them.

"You could have broke my arm which would forbid me to be on the team. You're just lucky I'm still standing." Gabriella couldn't even look him in the face, her scared face was pointed towards the ground the whole time. "I'll leave you with warning for now, but I swear! You do any harm to me again, and well…let's just say you wouldn't want know."

Everyone laughed at the helpless girl.

"If I were you, I wouldn't be too happy that nothing happened at this moment. You're just a weak nerd. "

Even though Gabriella was silent on the outside, in the inside, she was scared to death. "Are we clear!" yelled Troy. Gabriella quickly nodded. He then turned around, and walked away.

His footsteps were loud and clear. _Click. Click. Click. _It was almost like a warning to Gabriella.

The crowd went and followed Troy, leaving Gabriella all shook up.

* * *

She was motionless. She didn't want to move. She was afraid that history would repeat if she dared to move again.

Taylor all of a sudden rushed outside after hearing what happened to her poor best friend."Oh my gosh, Gabs! Are you alright?" She asked bringing her into a hug. The only answer she got was whimper.

"Those guys are jerks, don't listen to them. They're too full of themselves." Taylor tried to reassure her.

"All I did was bump into him…" Gabriella stated. "Hey, don't blame this on yourself. Troy was overreacting." explained Taylor. "Just remember to stay away from him." Gabriella nodded her head slowly.

Taylor let go of Gabriella and got up. She looked around and saw Gabriella's book lying a few feet away. She retrieved it and placed it next to Gabriella.

Eventually Taylor got Gabriella to stand and head to class. But it seemed like nothing could get the awful thought of Troy out of her head.

* * *

_**Homeroom**_

Gabriella and Taylor walked into homeroom together that afternoon. Gabriella's mood positively changed by the time class started. The girls took their seats next to each other and waited for Mrs. Darbus to start rambling about school activities but still hinting a bit of Shakespeare here and there.

Once the bell rung, Mrs. Darbus stood up from her overly sized chair.

"Good Afternoon Class. First things first, CELL PHONES OFF!" Almost half the class took their phones out and switched them off.

"Information about the school's musical can be found on the backboard. Tryout dates can be located at the sign-up sheet near the school's entrance. Student council has a meeting on–"

The squeaky sound of the door caught the intention of the whole room.

"Nice of you to join us Mr. Bolton; once again, another tardy. I see you're keeping a collection going."

"Well Mrs. Darbus, collecting as always been a hobby of mine. I've been collecting trophies, championships, tardies, and most importantly the _ladies_." He smirked.

"Whatever suits you, Mr. Bolton. Go take your seat." Troy took his seat behind Gabriella. He leaned forward, "Nice to see you again, nerd."

Gabriella looked at Taylor with eyes that could beat any puppy. Taylor mouthed, "Ignore him." Gabriella nodded back, still scared.

Mrs. Darbus continued on with her announcements wearing the whole class out. Towards the end, she took out a big stack of white papers. She stated, "I have your math midterms in my hand. Some of you did fairly well while others did fairly not."

Gabriella and Taylor looked at each other nervously. They both studied hard for the midterm to the point where they couldn't look at a textbook ever again. Row by row, Mrs. Darbus handed them back. It was now time for their rows. They both hoped that the overtime studying would pay off.

As for Troy, the midterm was the last thing on his mind._ Man, I'm really craving a burger right now. A double-double from In-N-Out, oh god....why did I have to think about that?_

Mrs. Darbus handed back Taylor's. 97% "Very nice, Taylor." She added.

Then, she turned to Gabriella and handed hers back. 100% "Gabriella, you are doing an excellent job." Mrs. Darbus commended.

"Nerd." Troy scoffed. The class scoffed along with him.

"I wouldn't be calling anyone names, Mr. Bolton. Look at your test." Mrs. Darbus noted. Troy looked down. 15%. For a second he frowned but he immediately tried to cover it up.

"Well at least I'm not some smart brainiac that has no social life. I'd rather be dumb and popular than to have Gabriella's brain. " The class let out an "ooooh."

Gabriella hid in her arms.

"Mr. Bolton! Cut that out. Now, even though I dread to do so – I must give you a makeup test in a few weeks. If I were you I'd take this seriously, young man."

"Why should I?"

"Well according to Mr. Matsui, if you fail the makeup, you will be forced to quit the basketball team." Troy stood up in shock.

"WAIT! I CAN'T GET KICKED OFF THE TEAM! THEY NEED ME!" he screamed. The basketball team was nothing without him.

Mrs. Darbus sighed and replied, "Mr. Bolton, it's in the rulebook."

"But – I don't understand!"

"Mr. Bolton, it is very simple. You no pass, you no play."

"But–"

She ignored the rest of Troy's snickering comments and walked to the front of the class.

"Does anyone have any questions?"

The class shook their heads.

"Comments?"

Everyone murmured no.

"Concerns about Shakespearean lifestyles?"

All you could hear was the cricket chirping in the corner.

"Well then were done for now; the period is yours." Immediately, Troy jumped out of his seat and headed towards his best friend, Chad Danforth.

"Except for you, Mr. Bolton." Troy rolled his eyes and groaned.

Just as Gabriella made her way to the other side of Taylor's desk she heard Mrs. Darbus call out, "You too Ms. Montez."

Hearing her name, Gabriella's head snapped towards Mrs. Darbus. She signaled to both of them to come to her. Both her and Troy came.

"Mr. Bolton, you and I both know that you can't pass the test by yourself." Troy rolled his eyes. "And we also both know that Gabriella is our top student. So I'm going to require both of you to be study partners. I need you, Gabriella, to tutor him."

Troy and Gabriella were overwhelmed by this point.

"Whoa there Mrs. D, you can't expect me work with…her." Troy complained.

"Mr. Bolton, I talked with your dad and he's making this tutoring offer required. So no more questions."

"And if you do this Gabriella, it will count for credits." Mrs. Darbus bribed, knowing she loved getting extra grades.

Gabriella thought for minute. She knew if she tutored him it would be like entering death but she'd do anything for extra credits. Seeing the look on Gabriella's face, Mrs. Darbus smiled knowing she'd do it. "Well it's settled! I hope to see a grade other than an F on your test Mr. Bolton. Now you may leave."

Troy sighed in defeat. He looked at Gabriella, "Well I guess we'll be seeing more of each other." He left but not before shooting his famous wink at her.

Gabriella thought for a second.

_This will be an interesting experience…_

_

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_**This is the first chapter. I hope you enjoyed it! Please read and review. I accept ALL criticism, there is no such thing as extra help. So please review! Also, please read and comment on my other story, Just Once. :)**

**-BubbaBoom  
**


	2. Chapter 2

**Waz up? Here is chapter two! I just wanted to remind everyone that I accept anonymous reviews. Even if you do not have an account - I hope you decide to review and comment about my story. So here is Chapter 2!**

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**A Heartless Bully?

Chapter Two

A note landed on Taylor's desk, early the next day. It was almost the end of first period, A.P Chemistry. She looked up and saw Gabriella pretending to mind her own business. She looked at Gabriella with a confused expression.

After seeing this, Gabriella mouthed, "Open it." In return, Taylor mouthed back, "Fine."

She looked at the neatly folded paper, and slowly opened it.

**Gabriella Montez's Will**

**I, Gabriella Montez, declare that all my belongings **

**should be split between my mother, Maria Montez **

**and my best friend, Taylor McKessie. If either or both **

**of them deny any possession–then please donate them**

** to any children's charity. Unless it's hard and breakable, **

**then I want it to be thrown on Troy Bolton.**

Taylor looked at Gabriella strangely. She was about to say something when the bell rung loudly.

"I'll explain to you next period." Gabriella told her right before she rushed to get to the next class.

Taylor stood there, still confused. Then suddenly she realized that she had to rush to class as well. Once she arrived, right at the nick of time, she took her seat next to Gabriella.

"So do you want to tell me what this is all about?" she asked, holding up the paper that apparently was Gabriella's "will".

"Well, that right there is my will; if you haven't noticed already." Gabriella smartly replied.

"Well duh – you know what I mean!" Taylor exclaimed. Gabriella giggled and replied, "I'm meeting up with Troy afterschool. I'm pretty sure that explains everything."

Taylor nodded in agreement.

"So where are you guys going to go study?"

Gabriella shrugged. "No clue. He just came up to me and said,

_Flashback_

"_Yo! Uh, Galleria? No. Um. Ga…Gabrielle? Oh wait, Gabriella! Yeah, that's it. Look, I don't have practice or a date with some chick so you're going to start tutoring me after school. Kay? Meet me outside."_

"_Wait, you're not even going to ask me if I can go?" _

_Troy looked at her like she was crazy. "Psh, you're Gabriella. Why would you have plans?" He laughed and went off._

_As much as Gabriella wanted to disagree with that comment – she couldn't help but admit that was true. _

_End of Flashback_

"Wow, what a jerk!" Taylor stated.

After class, both of them headed to lunch. Lunch ran smoothly with no "troy alert" as well the rest of the day.

Now, it was afterschool and Gabriella was waiting in front of the main entrance.

Tons of students covered the whole campus; if they weren't getting ready to leave then they were chatting and socializing.

Just like yesterday, she was cuddling another book and walking with her head down. She hated being surrounded by a million people, she felt exposed and out there.

She finally lifted her head, trying to spot Troy. He wasn't any where to be seen. Thinking he was just late, Gabriella walked over to one of the benches and opened her book.

It wasn't long before she was lost in a completely different world.

* * *

Troy came out of the school entrance about five minutes later. He looked around and saw Gabriella sitting on a bench, with her nose in a book.

_Nerds, what's with them and books?_

He walked over to her and sat down in the space next to her. "Gabriella?"

She didn't lift a finger.

"Gabriella? I'm here!"

Troy tried to get her attention but apparently a book was way more important than his presence. He wouldn't allow a bunch of papers beat him to attention.

Without thinking, he grabbed the book and threw it on the ground with all his strength. Pages ripped out and the front cover took a dirt bath.

"Hey!" Gabriella screamed.

Automatically, she remembered Troy's threat and what he could possibly do to her.

"What was that for?" she murmured, her volume dropping one hundred percent.

"THE Troy Bolton is here." Troy said, cockily.

On the inside Gabriella was thinking, _THE Troy Bolton? Is your ego really that big?_

But on the outside, she stayed quiet with her head facing the other direction. Troy rolled his eyes, "Let's go."

He began to walk away. After walking about ten steps, he noticed Gabriella wasn't following him. She was still looking innocently in the other direction.

"Hey, Nerd. If you didn't hear me, I said LET'S GO!" he yelled louder. Gabriella, not wanting to say anything, turned towards Troy.

She had a few moments of thought before she stood up and walked the way Troy did.

"Are you going to tell me where we're going?" she wondered.

"Why? Do you not trust me? If I were you, I'd keep your mouth shut." There goes his temper…

* * *

About fifteen minutes later – both of them ended up in a fairly large house; a mini mansion if you must. "Is this your house?" Gabriella asked in amazement. It was ten times bigger than her house.

"Yeah, welcome to Casa De Bolton. Don't ask me what it means, I just hear my mom say that all the time. What is it gibberish? She needs to learn that we're in America and speak English."

_Gosh, he really is stupid. _

Gabriella followed him into the house. The inside was just as gorgeous as the outside. Whoever decorated it was a genius.

The house wasn't fancy with chandeliers and butlers. But, it had an amazing homey feeling. The house was filled with deep reds, browns, tans, and many other colors that seemed to fit perfectly. They had a giant on-the-wall flat screen TV which was accompanied by a surround sound system. It was basically a perfect house.

"Is this Gabriella!" a feminine voice shrieked. A woman who had hair that was slightly darker than Troy's, walked in the room.

"Yeah, this is my tutor." said Troy, with no excitement in his voice.

"Hello Mrs. Bolton." Gabriella greeted.

"Darling, please call me Lucille. Mrs. Bolton is what I call Troy's grandma." She shivered a bit, not wanting to be called what her mother-in-law was called.

"I just put in the turkey we were going to have for dinner in the oven, would you like to join us for dinner? It's Troy's favorite."

Right away, Gabriella shook her head. "Oh no, it's alright."

_I'm already entering death by coming here; no way am I staying for dinner!_

"Well maybe another time." Lucille suggested, hopefully.

Gabriella nodded politely even though she hoped that wasn't going to happen anytime soon. Once Lucille left, Troy led Gabriella upstairs.

* * *

"Okay let's take a look at your midterm."

Gabriella reached out and grabbed the stapled piece of paper that was lying on Troy's bed.

She opened it and saw immediately noticed that he missed the first twenty problems. What surprised her most was that the first twenty questions were review questions that they probably learned in middle school.

"Wow okay." she said, trying to get over her shock.

"We'll take it section by section. The first five questions are multiplying and dividing negative fractions. You seemed to miss every problem."

Troy tried to make an excuse, "Oh – I probably ditched school the day we learned this."

Gabriella caught on to his excuse right away. "Even though that was probably true, we learned this stuff like in eighth grade." She pointed out.

Troy rolled his eyes.

Gabriella took a piece of paper and wrote largely,

-10 1/2 x 7 1/4

Troy looked at the paper like he was looking at problem that stated:

10x2x8x8x5x7x4x8x5x8x5x8xx9x8x5x7x4x7x5x1+8+2+5+6+291203-23-6-1-7-8x0 = __

But everyone knows that the problem would equal zero. I mean who wouldn't?

"Alright, first you have to change the mixed numbers into improper fractions."

"So to make them improper we pretend they went to a fancy ball and forgot to wear ties and jackets?"

Gabriella laughed. "Trying to be funny?"

Troy looked at her, weirdly. "No…"

_Wow, he wasn't joking. What did I get myself into? This will be a long day..._

"To turn them improper, you multiply the denominator and the whole number then add the sum of that by the numerator." Gabriella explained.

Troy looked like he was told that he lost the state championships.

"This is dumb! To be a basketball player, you don't need to learn all these fractions and proper and improper and negatives and deno-numo stuff and what not! Tutors are useless! I don't need all this crap!" Troy shouted.

He fiercely grabbed the paper and ripped into pieces. He dropped the pieces on the ground and stepped on them like crazy.

Out of nowhere, Gabriella felt a wave a confidence.

"God Troy! I'm trying to help you here!"

"Don't yell at me, nerd!" Troy was fuming.

"You know what, Troy! Why don't you shrink your ego a bit? Not everything is about you. If Darbus didn't make this required then I would've been out of here an hour ago!" screamed Gabriella, furiously.

"I don't need your fucking help!"

"When you finally realize that you need to pass this test to stay on the team. Call me. I may be a nerd, or geek, or brainiac. But at least I'm not an egoistic, HEARTLESS JERK!"

Gabriella picked up her backpack and stomped downstairs and out the door.

As soon as she left, she felt indomitable. Inside, she felt a rush of confidence. She didn't get her hopes up though, she knew that confidence would be gone by the time she entered school the next day.

* * *

Later that night, Troy walked in his room. His mood unexpectedly dropped from the time when Gabriella left to now.

He grabbed a pillow, and let out all his anger. He gripped on to the pillow and kicked his legs up and down. He let out a long yelp.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" he shouted.

But, since he was under a pillow it sounded more like, "Uhhhhhhhhhh!"

He threw the pillow to the side and sat up.

He wasn't going to let a nerd get him all emotional and girly.

Tomorrow, she was in for it. He was sure of that.

* * *

**Hmmm...I wonder if Troy will carry out his plan to get back at Gabriella?**

**REMEMBER TO REVIEW EVEN IF YOU DONT HAVE A FANFIC ACCOUNT!**

**-BubbaBoom  
**


	3. Chapter 3

**Sorry, I was planning to update yesterday but I guess I felt lazy. LOL. JK, I was completely busy with school campaigning and all that. I just got off of Autumn Break so school is being a drag already. Don't worry - I'm going to find the time to write and update. So here is chapter three. :)**

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A Heartless Bully?

Chapter Three

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**An hour before school started. **

One look was all he needed; one small tiny glance was all it took for Chad to burst in thunderous, continuous laughter.

"Damn Troy, did you eat a whole spicy pepper this morning?" he chortled. "It looks like you dipped your face in red paint. I mean, seriously! Have you seen your reflection?"

Troy snapped Chad a frightening look.

"Dude, this is not funny. Where the hell is Gabriella?" Troy furiously answered with a look that could bring fear to a twenty-foot bear.

Straight away, Chad shut up knowing that right now was not the moment to make fun.

"Gabriella…Gabriella…Sorry, but do we even know a Gabriella?"

"Gabriella, the nerd who has to tutor me."

Chad looked up still trying to figure out who she was – then a light bulb went off.

"Oh! The girl with the face and the hair with the eyes, I know who she is!"

Troy rolled his eyes,

_How in the world did HE pass the mid-term? He makes me seem like Einstin. Wait no, Einston. Einstein…Einstein…yup that's it. I think. _

"You know what; coming to you was no help."

Troy stomped off, accenting each step he took. "That bitch has to be somewhere!"

Today was the one day of the week where no one had homeroom. Instead, free period was extended.

And with the fact that homeroom was the only class he shared with Gabriella, the chances of finding her were slim.

* * *

Three characteristics to describe Troy at the moment: flaming-tomato faced, deadly clenched fists, and outrageously infuriated.

Last night, all he did was express his negative feelings towards math and tutors and in return, she started a deafening argument and later, ran out of his house. Did she know who she was messing with?

Troy strutted down the hall with students clearing the way for him. Little conversations about him were audible in every corner you turned at.

He stopped for a small number of seconds.

He looked at everyone's faces as they stared at him with a large amount of panic.

He smirked, he liked the feeling he was experiencing. He then continued his long and endless search for Gabriella.

Down the hall, Zeke was leaning on his locker. Once he spotted Troy, he got up and ran towards him.

"Man, you got to slow down for a second." Zeke said, trying to catch up to his friend.

"Zeke, get out of my way."

Zeke, knowing that not following Troy's orders was deadly, stepped back. He frowned at his friend, wondering what was wrong.

He looked at Troy's path. When Troy turned at the corner, he shook his head.

"That's just Troy being Troy."

* * *

Troy turned at the corner and rushed down another hallway.

Eventually, the giant mob that was following Troy got bored faded out while he still continued his search for Gabriella.

The clock was ticking.

Thirty minutes left till first period started.

By this time, Troy's speed began to slow down. Where else would this woman be?

She wasn't at the library like he thought she would. Her friend Taylor didn't seem to know where she. To top that off, she wasn't in any of the nerd hangout areas.

As his mind flashed to many questions and thoughts; his once fierce run started to slow down.

It wasn't long before Troy just stood motionless in the middle of the hallway.

"I'm just wasting my time." Troy whispered to himself.

He glanced at his surroundings.

There were barely any people in the hallways. Everyone was probably at their before-school activity or even chilling with their buddies.

Troy looked down, defeated.

He placed his hands in his front pockets and walked down the hallways, exhausted.

For some odd reason, he kind of felt…stupid. He felt…lonely.

"There was no point in even trying." he said to himself.

Troy pulled his hood down and covered his face as he sat down on one of the indoor benches.

"Why was I even mad in the first place?" he silently thought.

* * *

Fifteen minutes till first period.

Troy slowly walked down the hall, towards his first class. His mind was still distraught in thoughts.

Once again, the hallways began to populate and the noise level began to rise.

He moved to the very side of the hallway, trying to stay out of everyone's way. He certainly was not in the mood to talk.

All he did was move quietly down the long hallway.

About five minutes later, he passed by something that caught his attention.

A door.

A big giant wooden door.

Troy stopped his pace.

He looked to his right; he never noticed this door before. He looked to the side of the door and discovered there was no room number.

_What is this?_

He knew it was better to ditch the door and head to class but there was something about it. Deep in his gut, there was something telling him to go inside. Without knowing, his feet began to move.

It was a fight between curiosity and knowledge.

He stepped closer the door.

_There's probably nothing there._

Inch-by-inch, the door appeared to be getting closer and closer.

_I'm wasting my time._

Before you knew it, he was centimeters away from the handle. That was when he heard something.

"_Soaring, Flying. There's not a star in heaven that we can't reach."_

A rush of beautiful melody filled in Troy's ears. The magical voice was joined with plucks and strums of an acoustic guitar. Together, it was like French fries and milkshakes – a perfect match.

It wasn't long before he found his hand pushing down on the door handle.

Curiosity wins.

* * *

Troy, as softly as possible, opened the door and peeked inside.

The thoughts of a radio or maybe even the school choir popped in his head, but no, that's not what he saw inside.

His eyes grew. But, his ears danced.

_If we're trying, so we're Breaking Free._

The room was painted a faint dark blue. Only a few lights were on as well as a few candles. Towards the front of the room, there was a brown stage-like item.

On the stage, there was guitar stand and a stool.

And sitting on a stool was the one and only,

"Gabriella?" Troy whispred quietly to himself. He stood by the corner and watched her gracefully run her hands across the guitar.

_You know the world between us, in a way that's different than who we are._

As she came to a stop, Troy got off from the wall.

His hands slowly rose and he began to clap.

"Troy?" Gabriella's face changed automatically. Before her face was full of calmness and enjoyment, but now, she was scared.

"Oh my god, look Troy. Before you kill me, I'm sorry that I ran out of your house and yelled and everything." She went into panic mode as Troy went closer to her. "I promise I will stay out of your way – "

"That was beautiful." He simply said. Then, the bell rung.

"You should get to class." Without a word, he went out of the room and left.

Gabriella was left there, speechless. What happened with Troy and his temper?

She then exited the room, all in one piece.

* * *

**10 PM, Gabriella's House  
**

Gabriella walked up the stairs and into her room. That night, she decided to treat herself at a local diner for dinner.

She sat on her bed and looked out her balcony.

Today was a pretty good day. She was still alive didn't bump into Troy the whole day. Except, for that morning.

Troy's mood seemed to dramatically change and she wasn't sure what to think about it.

Instead of shouting at how bad she was, he stood at the corner.

Instead of running out, he clapped.

Instead of hurting her, he gave her a compliment.

Instead of making her later for class, he left and told her to leave as well.

He was one confusing guy.

Gabriella stood up from her bed and walked to the other side of the room to grab a book. She skimmed each book carefully and picked up, To Kill a Mockingbird.

After dressing in some shorts and a big t-shirt, she sat on her bed and opened her book. For about thirty minutes her eyes went page to page and chapter to chapter.

She lifted her hand to turn to the next page when that was interrupted. _Knock, Knock, Knock._

Her head turned to the balcony.

She was taken back on who was there. The guy who was standing on her balcony smiled and waved.

_This is a bad idea, _Gabriella thought.

She went to the balcony doors and unlocked it.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, still surprised. "How did you find out where I live?!"

Troy laughed. "Is there something wrong with me stopping by to say hi?"

Gabriella looked at him like he was crazy. "Uh, yeah." She answered.

"Then tell me what's wrong with a friendly student wanting to visit his own tutor?"

She opened her mouth to answer – nothing came out. Her cheeks turned into a bright red color with embarrassment.

"You are blushing." Troy grinned.

She rolled her eyes. "How did you find my house?" she finally got out. "Taylor, I asked her during school. She was happy to give it to me." he answered.

"She's going to get it later." She said angrily under her breath.

Gabriella looked up to see Troy roaming her room. "Was this you?" he asked picking up a frame.

She rushed to his side trying to grab the photo out of his hand. "Hey! Give it back That's my baby picture!"

Troy lifted it high into the air. "Try to get it."

After many failed attempts to grab it, Gabriella gave up. Troy finally gave the picture a good look.

"You were so adorable. Awww – look at wittle Gawbiewella." He said in a baby voice.

"Loser." She scoffed.

Usually Troy would snap at that and begin argue, but today, he was calm and laughed it off.

Was it really possible to change _so much_ in twenty four hours? I guess so.

Troy put the picture down and sat on her bed. He glanced at the book on her bed. "To Kill A Mockingbird? Is it violent? It does have the word kill in the title." He kept on rambling on and on.

Trying to get his attention, Gabriella said, "Troy."

Troy looked at Gabriella.

"There must be a reason why you really are here."

Troy looked away. He took in a large amount of air as he thought about it.

"Truthfully –"he started.

He looked out at the balcony just like Gabriella did a few moments before.

"I have no clue."

Gabriella nodded at him, still confused.

"Why were you so nice to me this morning? Why did you go in the room in the first place?"

"I went inside for the same reason you probably did. I was curious."

Gabriella stared at him in amazement but still was quiet.

"When I heard you sing, something came over me." He said.

"What came over you?"

"I DON'T KNOW, OKAY?" he snapped. Gabriella was taken back. "I'm sorry…" she murmured.

_His mood swings are back…_

"You know what, coming here was pointless!" He stood up and ran towards the balcony. "TROY WAIT!" Gabriella called. Troy turned around.

"Make your mind up. Do you hate me or not? Am I still just some fearful nerd to you or has that changed? You and your mood swings are throwing me off like crazy! Should I be scared to tutor you or should I actually be excited?"

Troy walked away from the balcony and to a chair in the corner of her room.

"I have a reputation, Gabriella. Even when I want to be friends with someone, I can't. I want to be nice to you, but I can't. I don't want to make you scared, but I can't. Do you see that I just can't?"

Gabriella shook her head in reply. "Just because your friends don't want something, doesn't mean you have to follow your rep."

"I'm a jock. I hang out with other jocks and cheerleaders. I don't socialize with nerds unless I have to. That's the rules, Gabriella!"

"Since when? You know, for a while, I thought you actually might have gotten over your gigantic ego. But, that just proves, that it's impossible to change over a day."

There was an awkward silence for about five minutes.

"Gabriella, nothing is impossible." Troy told her as he walked in the direction of her guitar. "When I heard you sing and play, I felt different." He picked up her guitar.

"I want to be your friend. Don't get me wrong, but I have to keep my status." He sat back down and began to strum a few chords.

"Didn't you hear what I just–"

"GABRIELLA!" Troy screamed. He set her guitar down.

"Let's say you're mixing chemicals with your nerd friends. You're going to pour the blue liquid into the thingy. Everyone in your group says it's the wrong thing to do and you should use the purple liquid. Do you still go along with the blue stuff? Or do you follow what your peers say to stay out of embarrassment?"

No words came out of Gabriella.

"See? It's the same thing. I do want to be your friend, don't get me wrong, I really do. But, when everyone who has been your buddy for years gang up on the idea, I'm not going to do it!"

"It's still wrong, Troy."

"Everyone knows that. Everyone knows drinking can kill you, but people still do it. People know that spending too much money might leave you in debt, but yet, look at our society. We know it's wrong but we still do it."

"You know Troy. Those are really some smart words you just said. You're not as stupid as you think you are."

Troy chuckled.

"That doesn't count."

Gabriella looked to her left and saw in blinking red numbers: 11:30 PM

She gasped, "Troy it's late, you should go home." Troy nodded and stood up. He started his way towards the giant tree. "I'm glad I decided to drop by." he stated, right before jumped on the tree and climbed down.

Gabriella smiled and closed the balcony doors. When suddenly, she reopened them when Troy appeared once again.

"I forgot something."

With that, he brought Gabriella into a big hug. At first, Gabriella was surprised. But, she gave in and hugged him back while wondering how all of this would work out. They let go from each other and Troy said, "Good-bye nerd."

It was the grin he flashed her afterwards that reminded Gabriella that he was just kidding.

A few seconds later, Troy redid his actions: jumping on the tree and climbing down. He got into his black car and drove off.

_Maybe he did change._

Gabriella climbed into her bed and closed her heavy eyes. Things between her and Troy were fine for now, but who knows?

Just like Troy said, we do stuff we know isn't right.

* * *

**That's my chapter for now! Just for the record, I'm planning on making this a 15-20 chapter story. Let me tell you right now, the drama isn't over. We're just getting started. So let's get to reviewing!**

**I have a random question for ya'll:**

**My favorite strange food combination is French fries and vanilla milkshakes. **

**What are your favorite strange food combinations?  
**


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